Sheaf-carrier for self-binding harvesters



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

A. STEVENS. SHEA? CARRIER FOR SELF BINDING HARVESTERS. No. 452,856.

Patented May 26, 1891.

WW/ memes mmy4 (141mm e1 (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. A. STEVENS.

SHEA? CARRIER FOR SELF BINDING HARVESTERS. No. 452,856.

Patented May 26, 1891.

a e comma NTT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANSEL STEVENS, OF GORHAM, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN J. FRYE,

' OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

SHEAF-CARRIER FOR SELF-BINDING HARVESTERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 452,856, dated May 26,1891.

Application filed April 8,1890. Serial No. 347,046. (No model.)

in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Sheaf Carriers for Self- BindingHarvesters; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to sheaf-carriers for self-bindingharvesters; and ithas for its object to provide a carrier which whenreleased will dump by the weight of the sheaves, and which will insure aprompt and clean discharge of the bundles and a quick return to thereceiving position.

Bundle-carriers have heretofore been used consisting oflaterally-projecting fingers individually pivoted to a rocking bar,which is in turn pivoted to the lower sills of the harvester-frame, thecarrier being dumped by allowing the outer ends of the fingers to dropto the ground and the bundles to roll off.

My invention relates to this type of carriers; but with a view toimproving its operation in the respects above referred to the fingersare individually pivoted to a'rigid bar carried by a swinging frame orlinks pivoted at their upper ends to the binder-table, so that when thecarrieris dumped the bar swings in under the table, withdrawing thefingers from under the bundles and causing them to fall in a heap,instead of straggling along. To still further help this discharge, Icontemplate using a supplementary device to move outwardly as the barswings inwardly and push or strip the bundles off the fingers. I

also hang the carrier from the movable binder, so that it need not bemade so wide as those supported on the harvester-frame, and Ifurthermore pivot the fingers to the bar so that they may individuallyor collectively swing to the rear upon meeting any obstruction, or moveupward upon coming in contact with any obstacle from beneath, or upontheir ends meeting the ground as their supportingbar swings inward andupward.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a rear elevation of aself-binder with one of my improved carriers attached, it being shown inreceiving position by full lines and in its dumping position by brokenlines. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the carrier detached, showing thedetails of its construction.

The machine shown needs no description, being of the well-knownMarsh-Appleby type. The carrier may, however, be applied to any othertype.

A A denote a pair of short stout angle-iron brackets, riveted orotherwise secured to the binder-table near its front and rear outercorners. B B are two links pivoted at their upper ends to thesebrackets, and forming a swinging frame carrying at its lower end thefinger-supporting bar C, shown in this instance as a channel-iron.

The carrier-fingers D may be made of stout steel wi re. They areslightly bent upward at their outer ends to prevent the bundles joltingor rolling off. At their inner ends they are bent at a right angle,forming short vertical pivoted portions a, which have hearings in theupper and lower horizontal flanges b c of the channel-iron bar. From thelower end of this vertical pivot they are bent back upon and parallelWith the body of the finger, forming a cranked end, as at d. The upperflange b of the channel-iron is formed with circular openings orperforations to receive the pivotal portions of the fingers, saidopenings being large enough to allow slight play, for a purposepresently to be described. The lower flange 0 of the channel-iron isprovided with slots e, cut transversely, or so as to stand lengthwise ofthe fingers in their receiving position.

E is a chain connecting the cranked ends d of all the fingers together.

F is a spring, (here shown as a coil,) one end being connected to thefront end of the chain and the other to the swingingframe-link B, thespring serving to keep the fingers extended normally at a right angle tothe bar G, or, in other words, in their receiving position, and anysuitable stop being provided to prevent theirbeing carried too farforwardas, for ex ample, a lug or lugs, as shown at 5, on the lowerflange of the channel-bar for the cranked ends 01 of the fingers tostrike against.

1 To one of the swinging frame-links B, preferably the rear one, isconnected the pitman G, said pitman extending over and being attached atits other end to a'crank f on a short shaft g, mounted on the seat-plankin convenient position to be rocked in either direction by the driverputting his foot 011 the pedals h. The crank and the pitman may bearranged in such relative positions that when the carrier, as shown inFig. 1, is in its receiving position they shall form,a toggle-lock tohold it up against the weight of the bundles. Two pedals are shown inthe drawings, one projecting from each side of the shaft g. With thisconstruction it is not necessary to use the toggle-lock, as the drivermay by holding his foot upon the grainward pedal keep the carrier fromdumpin Pivotedto the brackets A by suitable lugs or straps L, so as toswing in the direction of the length of the fingers, is the boardJ,forming the supplementary bundle-discharging device above referred to.The board prefererably occupies nearly the entire space between theframe-links and prevents the bundles from jolting or falling off thatside of the carrier. As a convenient means for moving this push-board inopposition to the movement of the swinging carrier-frame,I pivot to aleg II, depending from the underlying arm of the binder, or to anyothersuitable part of the frame, a lever I, whose lower end hangs downinside of and against the finger-supporting bar (J, and whose upper endextends some distance above its pivot, where it bears upon the upperpart of the pushboard, so as to force the latter outward as its upperend is carried inward by the finger-supporting bar in the act of dumpingthe carrier. I do not wish to be limited to this means for actuating thesupplementary discharger, nor, indeed, to the use of the dischargeritself. When used, it may be actuated by any other suitable means,actuated either by the carrier in the act of dumping or by extraneousdevices; nor do I intend to confine myself to the details ofconstruction of the other parts, as they may be varied within widelimits and still be within the spirit and scope of my invention.

The construction being as above described, the operation is simple. Whena sufficient number of bundles have been bound and dropped into thecarrier to form a shock, (usually six or eight,) the driver, withoutnecessarily stopping the machine, presses his foot upon the treadle hand breaks the toggle-lock, when the weight of the bundles uponthefingers causes the carrier to be antomatically dumped, the driver, ifhe finds it desirable, assisting the withdrawal of the fingers bycontinuing the pressure on the treadle. In this dumping action thefinger-supporting bar, instead of rocking on its own axis, swings aboutthe pivots of the frame-links some distance above. This draws thefingers in under the machine and drops their outer ends to the ground,giving them a much steeper inclination when in the discharging positionthan if the bar simply rocked on its own axis. The slots in the lowerflange of the channel-iron not only permit the outer ends of the fingersto move up so as to ride over any obstructions, but allow the bar tocontinue to move after the fingers have struck the ground. As the barmoves inward in this dumping action it carries the lower end of thepush-board lever with it, rocking it on its pivot and forcing its upperend against the board, pushing it outward and causing it to strip orshove the bundles off the fingers. After the sheaves are dropped gravitycauses all the parts to return promptly to their normal position in timeto catch the next bundle falling from the binder. As above stated, Iprefer to connect the cranked inner ends of the fingers by a chaininstead of a rigid bar, as usual, as this being a flexible connectionpermits some of the fingers to swing horizon-- tally without the others.In some connections, however, I may use the bar. Though thefinger-supporting bar is here shown as a channel-iron, it may beotherwise formed, and the bearings for the vertical pivots of thefingers altered accordingly. It is also obvious that the feature of theupwardly-moving fingers may be used in connection with a supporting-barwhich rocks 011 its own axis, instead of swinging bodily, as hereinshown.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. A sheaf-carrier having afinger-supporting-bar pivoted at the side ofthe machine, a plurality of fingers projecting laterally from the bar,vertical pivots for the fingers, whereby they are adapted to swingsidewise, and a flexible connection between the several fingers,substantially as described.

2. A sheaf-carrier for binders, consisting of laterally-projectingfingers individually pivoted so as to turn rearward on a supportingbarmounted in a swinging frame pivoted at its upper end so as to swingtoward and from the side of the machine.

3. The combination of a binder with a sheafcarrier, the latterconsisting of a frame pivoted to the binder and carrying afinger-supporting bar in its lower part, from which proj ect laterally aseries of carrying-fingers, whereby the carrier in dumping swings inwardunder the binder.

4:. A sheaf-carrier for binders, consisting of a frame pivoted at itsupper end, a fingersupporting bar fixed in the lower part of the frameand carrying a set of fingers individually pivoted so as to swingrearward upon meeting an y obstruction as the machine moves forward, andto move upward upon striking the ground or any obstacle from the underside.

5. A sheaf-carrier for binders, consisting of the channel-iron bar C,having perforations in its upper flange and slots transversely of itslength in its lower flange, fingers D, having vertical pivotal portionsCt at their inner ends,

and cranks d, the latter being connected together by a chain, a springF, connected to the chain and the bar, said bar being fixed in the lowerends of links pivoted at their upper ends, and means for swinging thelinks inward to dump the carrier.

6. The combination of a sheaf-carrier consisting of fingers projectinglaterally from a supporting-bar, the latter being mounted in a frame soas to swing bodily in dun1ping,a supplemental discharger pivoted abovethe supporting-bar, a discharger-operating lever pivoted between itsends hehind the discharger, its lower end extending within the path ofthe carrier as it moves inward in dumping and its upper end beingarranged to strike the discharger and push the same outward, the pitmanG, connecting the frame of the carrier with a crank on the shaft g, andthe treadle h, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the links 13, pivoted at their upper ends to thebinder and carrying the chann el-iron bar 0 at their lower ends, thefingers D, pivoted to the bar so as to move individually or collectivelyto the rear, means for holding them extended in receiving position, andmeans for permitting them to rise upon meeting an obstruction from theunder side, the push-board J, pivoted at its upper end to the binder,the lever I, also pivoted to the binder and extending down behind thesupporting-bar, the pitman G, the crank f, the shaft g, and the treadleh, all substan tially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANSEL STEVENS. Vitnesses:

H. B. ZEVELY, J. A. GOLDSBOROUGH.

